Hawthorne Police Department officers execute innocent dog!

A video of police shooting a dog to death in front of its owner has gone viral after being posted to Reddit Monday afternoon.

The dog owner, Leon Rosby, was taking video of police officers in Hawthorne, Calif. as they barricaded a house, CBS reports. Rosby's attorney, Michael Gulden, said he plans to file a lawsuit against the Hawthorne Police Department.

Another bystander behind Rosby was recording him, and can be heard saying that Rosby asked the police why there weren't any black cops present. This drew the attention of two Hawthorne police officers, who started to approach Rosby.

Rosby can then be seen putting his dog, which looks like a Rottweiler, into his car and voluntarily putting his hands behind his back to be arrested. As he was being handcuffed by the officers, the dog started barking and jumped out of the car.

As the dog approached the officers, barking, the police shot the dog several times. Police said they had no choice but to shoot as the dog lunged towards them.

"It looks like the officer tried to reach down and grab the leash, and then the dog lunges in the direction of him and the other officers there," Hawthorne police Lt. Scott Swain said to the Daily Breeze. "And I know it's the dog's master, and more than likely not going to attack him, (but) we've got a guy handcuffed that's kind of defenseless. We have a duty to defend him, too." ---Huffington Post Here is the event, as it played out from a spectator recording the "altercation".

This shows that some police officers feel the need to show their "force" in unjustifiable ways. The dog clearly was wanting to be with his owner and he was not "lunging" to attack; nor did the owner need protection from his own dog as the Hawthorne Police Department stated. I demand that all individuals be held accountable for this merciless act of cruelty on Mr. Rosby's dog. The situation could have been handled in a more humane way. For instance, asking Mr. Rosby to secure his dog in his vehicle. From the footage you can clearly see that Mr, Rosby was more than compliant to their requests. We demand disciplinary action against the individuals involved NOW! This is brutality at its finest. Shame and dishonorable conduct from those sworn to protect and serve---all the while gunning down an innocent dog.

To: Hawthorne Police DepartmentYour actions in this matter were handled in a cruel and unjust way. Mr.Rosby was more than compliant to your requests-placing his pet inside his vehicle and approaching in a non-hostile manner. His dog was not of any threat to your officers, which if they felt threatened could have used a non-lethal method to subdue the animal. Instead they chose to maliciously gun down the animal in front of all the spectators at the scene and his owner. So my question is...who caused more of a scene Mr. Rosby or the officers in your police department? I demand that action be taken against the offending officers and that a full apology is issued to Mr. Rosby, including compensation for the merciless killing of his beloved pet.